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8 Ways My Native Grandma Is the Best

Vincent Schilling

6/26/14

In Mohawk, it’s Tota, In Diné it’s amá sání or análí asdzą́ą́ and in Cherokee it’s Elisi or Enisi. The special word we are referring to is one we all love, Grandmother.

A Grandmother is someone we think of with warm thoughts of love, friendship and a storyteller of ancestral ways. While they are someone who might give us a bowl of split pea soup when we visit, or help us get out the gum we got stuck in our hair, Grandmothers are the best.

In honor of these special women who are or once were in our lives to guide us on our journeys, here is ICTMN’s list of ways of why we think Native grandmas are the best.

They are the best huggers ever

I don’t care who you are, there is nothing better than a Native grandma hug. They just had so much love which for just a moment in time, cured all of our lives problems and let us just be who we were. We didn’t have to prove anything, be tough or be someone we are not. They hugged and loved us for who we were and are.

They were there when we seemed to need them the most

A lot of times, Native grandmas may not get in the way of those dumb decisions we make in life, but they are there to help pick up the pieces of our broken hearts, skinned knees or hungry stomachs. Just when we thought we had nowhere to turn, they were here to give us advice at just the right time.